COHERENCE

written by

James Ward Byrkit

Story by James Ward Byrkit and Alex Manugian

Transcribed into screenplay form by Oscar Moreno

oamh42@gmail.com
FADE IN:

INT. EM'S CAR - NIGHT

EM, late 20s, is on the phone as she drives. A bit of a

melancholy vibe to her. Messy hair, probably underdressed.
Genuine.

EM
I'm good.
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah, I'm out of the freeway now.
EM
You got him to pick you up at the
office or--

KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah. I should come over after I'm
done with work but then I'm going
to a lawyer bar.
EM
A lawyer bar?
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah. Classy. I don't know.

EM
Well, maybe we should get you a tie
for emergencies.
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah. Truthfully.
EM
Yeah.

KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah, but anyway, I'm headed down
the freeway and--
The call starts to cut off.

EM
Kevin? I can barely hear you.
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah. There's---
EM
Not much.
 2.

KEVIN (V.O.)
Are you there yet?
EM
Going up right now. I just got
here. Um, I'm right here. You know
what? I need to parallel park and I
forgot my earpiece.
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah.

EM
Are you good?
KEVIN (V.O.)
Yeah. We should talk about--there's
something I need to talk to you
about. We can talk about it at the
party.

EM
Okay. Is this something we should
talk about now or--hello? Kevin? I
lost you. Baby?

She SIGHS and HANGS UP. Looks at her phone.

EM (CONT'D)
You've gotta be kidding me.

The phone screen is broken.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Olive oil falls on a salad. CHATTER and LAUGHTER in the b.g.

MIKE (O.S.)
I think a little oil would be a
good. A little more...

MIKE, 40s, starts mixing up the oil with the salad. Well-
dressed with fading movie star looks, age starting to show in
a balding head. He moves on to cut loaves of bread. Drinks
some wine.
LEE (O.S.)
See that you're slipping?
MIKE
It's just for the bread.
 3.

BETH, 50s, eats some olives. Mid-30s. Short, tinted hair.

Very formally dressed.
LEE, late 30s, with long but slightly tomboyish hair and
glasses, her clothing between formal and casual. Sips some
wine.
BETH
I've not been eating carbs. This
cleanse--

MIKE
How long have you been cleansing
for?
BETH
About twenty-one days. And I had
juice and my shake earlier. And I
do feel very, you know, cleansed. A
little...open.

LEE
Same. But I feel a little faint. A
little tingly.
MIKE
You feel a little faint?
The doorbell RINGS.
BETH
But tonight I'm gonna drink and I'm
gonna have a--
Em ENTERS. Lee tackles her. They hug.

LEE
Hey!
EM
Hey! How are you, guys?! Nice to
see you!
Mike embraces Em.
BETH
You can put the keys there.
EM
I know. So I just had Kevin on the
phone and this happened...
She shows them the phone.
 4.

EM (CONT'D)
It cracked! As I was talking to
him...The conection just...I didn't
drop it.
MIKE
You've got insurance?
EM
I can't! I don't...

BETH
You need to talk to this guy now?
EM
No, it's fine, he said he wanted to
talk about something. But on the
news they were talking about the
comet and they keep telling people
that this can happen.
Lee approaches and grabs the phone.

LEE
Yeah, I don't think it's the comet.
If you've got Skype maybe you can--
EM
No! But it did suddenly break!
Beth signals something to Mike. He catches on.
MIKE
Hey, you want some wine?!

INT. KITCHEN - LATER

Beth cuts avocados. The rest are gathered around her,

drinking and taking some nibbles.
BETH
Did Amir mention to you that he's
bringing Laurie to dinner?
EM
He's bringing Laurie? The Laurie?
No, I didn't know that.
LEE
You know Laurie?
Em shakes her head. Mike looks at them, confused.
 5.

BETH
Long black hair...

EM
Big city, wild kind of sexy.
BETH
Very tight. Tight, tight dresses.
EM
It's fine.
Beth shows them a vial.
BETH
This is a little rescue remedy
concoction.

MIKE
What?
BETH
It's my own mix. It's very safe, I
think.
MIKE
You need a needle for that?

BETH
You can drop it into some water,
just to take the edge off. I don't
know, I'm offering. It's not
medication. It has passionflower, a
little valerian and a
little...ketamine.
MIKE
So it's all natural but it doesn't
sound all natural. Ketamine? That's
a horse tranquilizer.
Em touches her chest, shocked-humored.

EM
Ketamine? Because Laurie's coming
here?

LEE
It is a party.
Em LAUGHS.
 6.

BETH
I'll leave it right here. Just in
case you change your mind.

Beth places it by the sink. Beth notices a weird plant.

BETH (CONT'D)
This? Where'd you get this?

LEE
Gouser's.
The doorbell RINGS. HUGH and KEVIN enter. Both are tall men
in their 40s. Hugh sports a philosopher's beard, he's dressed
the part too. Kevin dresses a bit more youthfully in a
leather jacket but not losing his formal style.
BETH
Hey, baby!

Beth hugs and kisses Hugh.

HUGH
All right all right!

Mike embraces Hugh.

Kevin kisses Em and they share a long, loving hug.

INT. KITCHEN - LATER

Wearing mitts, Lee pulls out a roast from the oven. The rest
are all chatting. Em watches them, preparing to say something
herself.

EM
Um...

He hesitates.

EM (CONT'D)
Did you know that Laurie is coming?

KEVIN
No. Laurie is coming?
Kevin can't help it, he smiles.

BETH
Look at that smile!
KEVIN
It's not a smile!
 7.

Caught, Kevin can't help but laugh.

HUGH
Why is she coming?
KEVIN
Because Amir is a total jackass.

MIKE
Put a quarter in the swearjar.

They laugh.

LEE
He said he was going to bring his
"plus one." And I was like: Plus
what?

They laugh again. Kevin rubs Em's back.

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Em plays with her wine glass. Kevin looks at her.

EM
And you need to know tonight?

KEVIN
Uh-huh.

Em takes a swig from her glass. Kevin smiles.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
And you don't have to leave.

Em stares at him.

EM
You know--I can't--I...I just need
to think of it a little bit longer.
I just don't want to make the wrong
choice.
KEVIN
It could be for a shorter time.

EM
It would still be a long time and
I'm not saying "no", but...

KEVIN
Baby...if you don't do this, you'll
be on your own.
 8.

Em can't even begin to process this when the doorbell RINGS

again. AMIR enters, followed by LAURIE. Both are in their
mid-30s. Amir has a shaved head and he's pencil-thin. Laurie
wears a coat that tones down the reputation the others have
given her.
AMIR
(Making a voice)
We're cold and hungry!

He notices Em and Kevin.

AMIR (CONT'D)
(Still playing)
Hello!
EM
Hi!

Mike has entered to embrace Amir.

MIKE
You look great.

AMIR
(Playing)
Thank you!

LAURIE
Hi!
MIKE
And you're Laurie?

LAURIE
Yeah!
Laurie takes off her coat and hands it to Lee.

LAURIE (CONT'D)
I hope I didn't overdo it with the
outfit.

She reveals she's wearing a striking but not overly fancy

purple dress.
LEE
No no no.

Lee cheerfully collects her coat.

LEE (CONT'D)
Underdressed!
 9.

Lee and Laurie laugh.

Em gives a knowing grin. Laurie notices her.

LAURIE
Hi!

EM
Hi!

They hug.

LAURIE
How are you?

EM
I'm good!
Beth approaches Laurie.

BETH
Beth. And you're Laurie?
LAURIE
Yes, nice to see you!

They shake hands. Kevin waves at Laurie. She waves back.

LEE (O.S.)
You guys want red wine?

AMIR
Yes, I would love red wine!
Em leaves to help Lee. Beth approaches Kevin.

KEVIN
How are you?
BETH
I've been good. Life is looking
very different than how it was a
while back.
Mike comes in with a glass of wine.

MIKE
I would hope so!
He hands the glass to Beth.

BETH
Hey, thanks!
 10.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

The plates and glasses are mostly empty. Everyone is sitting

around the table. LAUGHING.
KEVIN
And now we've gotta talk about some
stuff.

EM
I still can't believe my phone was
broken.

LEE
I'm living in the moment but...
Kevin pulls out his phone.

MIKE
The tower's down?
LEE
It's not down.

EM
It's the comet.

MIKE
The comet?
AMIR
Dune's Comet.

EM
Yes. Thank you!
HUGH
I read something this morning about
a comet from the nineteen thirties
in Finland...
MIKE
It knocked out all the cell
towers...
They LAUGH.

EM
Actually, it was in nineteen
twenty-three and yes it was in
Finland.

They all laugh again, surprised by her nerdiness.

 11.

EM (CONT'D)
It was actually crazy because it
affected the people. They would,
after it passed, they would get
lost, they would end up in the
wrong home, they would forget
things, they really wouldn't know
where they were.

They all listen attentively.

EM (CONT'D)
And I remember reading about this
one woman who called the police and
said "The man in my house is not my
husband." And then the police came
over and they said "This is your
husband." She said "No, this is not
my husband. I killed my husband
yesterday...
MIKE
Awesome!

LEE
What?!

EM
...that's how I know it's not him."
But they couldn't arrest her
because he was standing right there
next to them.

BETH
Did they have any theories why--

MIKE
And then she killed him again.

They LAUGH.
LEE
Do you remember Haley's Comet?

EVERYONE
Yes!

LEE
It was such a big deal and I
remember that at my school we all
did like reenactments. We all got
to do something celestial and my
sister got to be Haley's Comet. I
was very jealous.
 12.

AMIR
I haven't met your sister. Have any
of you guys met her sister?

EM
There's a picture of her there on
the mantle but she looks a little
ridiculous.

BETH
Why did you put it--It's "the door
to nowhere." Look, in Feng Shui, a
"useless door"...

She stands up and heads to the door next to the mantel.

BETH (CONT'D)
And this is obviously a useless
door, you put a picture of someone
you have unresolved issues with and
it just causes all of these weird
energies just by being over here.
It's freaky. This shouldn't be over
there.

Beth returns to the table.

BETH (CONT'D)
And its impact, I can feel it. It's
like a vortex.

She sits down.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Hugh smiles, looking around.

HUGH
When was the last time you were all
together?

AMIR
Back on Thanksgiving most of us
were--

MIKE
I don't think most of us were.
Laura? Laurie?

AMIR
Laurie.

Lee shakes her head.

 13.

MIKE
Laurie. What are you doing these
days? Keeping busy.
LAURIE
Well, keeping busy. I'm actually
working with some outreach programs
in Silicon Valley where I work
with--

MIKE
Didn't you--weren't you teaching
the Spanish Yoga? The Spoga?
LAURIE
No, not me.

MIKE
Are you sure that wasn't? Oh no,
that must've been another girl that
Kevin was dating.

Some laugh, others shake their head.

LAURIE
What do you do for a living?

MIKE
I act.

LAURIE
I didn't know you were an actor. Do
you do mainly theater?
MIKE
I did. Ever since I moved out here
to support my wish. I was on a TV
show for four years.

LAURIE
What TV show?

MIKE
Roswell.
LAURIE
Oh my God, I loved Roswell! When
were you on Roswell? What episodes?

MIKE
I was on all episodes produced. I
was a series regular on that show.
 14.

HUGH
He was like the main guy.

MIKE
I was a series regular on that
show.

LAURIE
What character did you play?

MIKE
Joe.

LAURIE
Did you have different hair or
something?

MIKE
Same exact hair.

Hugh CHUCKLES.
LAURIE
Sorry, maybe it's one of those
situations where you know the
character for so long and then you
see the actor in real life, and it
just doesn't compute.

BETH
He still has it sort of running
through his face.

HUGH
Yeah.

Laurie LAUGHS.

MIKE
I'm sure you know the Yoga thing
was an accident.
BETH
I didn't do Yoga.

MIKE
Hey, listen, thanks for enjoying
the show.

BETH
I think you're a really good actor
and that you should continue doing
it.
 15.

MIKE
Thank you very much. It would be
well worth it.

LAURIE
(To Em)
What are you doing the days? Last I
remember you were like taking the
dance world by storm.

EM
I think last time I saw you I was
creating the dance show. It was
going really well for a while, but
then for the premiere, they brought
Svetlana Zajarova. Who is the best
dancer in the world, and they
offered me the understudy.
MIKE
She should have been the whole
thing. She was the prima ballerina
of San Francisco.

LAURIE
You hear these stories sometimes of
people shut out of things they
created and you know, it's
horrible. I'm sorry.

EM
But it's a good listen to learn.
Because of my pride I didn't want
to be an understudy and I took too
long to think about it and then I
lost the understudy job, and thery
gave me that to Catherine Merris.
BETH
She sucks.

EM
No, she's good, guys! And the
reason why she is really big now
it's because she went up. Svetlana
pulled out at the last minute, and
Catherine ended up doing the show.
BETH
Catherine Merris?

EM
Yeah.
 16.

BETH
As soon as you said that I thought
that Catherine Merris is the only
dance person that I know.

EM
Right.

BETH
So she basically stole, your whole
thing. Catherin Merris has your
life basically.

EM
Um...
BETH
You had a life. And it's a shame
that it happened because she
doesn't hold a candle to you.

Hugo raises his glass.

HUGO
Well, here's to the life that we do
lead.

They all toast.

MIKE
Here's to the comet!

HUGO
And the comet.
AMIR
Does anyone have a happy story?

Kevin turns to Em.

KEVIN
Sorry.

He turns to the rest of the table.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
I was going out with Laurie. Toa
bar I passed out. And I was
dreaming of this big, black bear on
its hind legs who was mauling me
tenderly.
(MORE)
 17.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
And then this huge dog runs and
starts pawing me exactly like in
the dream, and then this guy comes
and yells "Bear, get down, bear!"

AMIR
What?!

BETH
Wow, you've got a gift.

AMIR
Early in that story I thought
"Someone is going to die."

LEE
"Bear" is a very common dog name.

AMIR
Now the story got a whole lot less
interesting.

They laugh.
LEE
Most common bear name? Henry.

They laugh again. Em cheers up. Hugo shows Beth his phone.

BETH
(Pointing at the phone)
Oh my God!
(To Em)
Just like your phone!

EM
Oh my God! It happened to my phone
tonight and I was "Just liike they
were talking about on the news!"

MIKE
It must be the comet. If the
chicken tastes like tuna, it's the
comet.

Laughs.

HUGH
So nobody's phone works?!

EVERYONE
No.
 18.

BETH
I have mine on the other room.

HUGH
What about a landline?

MIKE
Nope. We're wireless, baby.

HUGH
I have to get ahold of my brother.
What about um...

He SNAPS his fingers.

HUGH (CONT'D)
...the computer?

LEE
Sure.
Amir walks over to his office.

BETH
What's wrong with your brother?

HUGH
Oh, nothing, it's just that he
hangs out with all these
theoretical physicists and-
Amir comes back.

AMIR
No internet!

Hugh's eyes go wide.

HUGH
No?!
AMIR
(To Lee)
You run Skype!

Lee laughs.

BETH
What's going on?
HUGH
Nothing--nothing to be upset about.
He just told me to give him a call
in case anything weird happened.
 19.

BETH
Why didn't I know about this?

HUGH
Because you're all feng-shui and
granola candles, and--
BETH
Oh, you're making fun of me.

HUGH
I'm not making fun of you. It's
just that there's this big
celestial object and I didn't want
to upset you.

MIKE
You do realize that I was in a show
called Roswell and that we used to
tackle these issues every week--

They LAUGH. BOOM. Everything goes dark.

LEE
Shit!...we have candles.

EM
I'm so glad I'm not high.

HUGH
Go check the breakers!

MIKE
I'm gonna turn my lighter on and
come to you.

They all begin to light candles and put them on the table.
AMIR
I've got blue glowsticks, red
glowsticks and green glowsticks.

Amir puts a box of glowsticks on the table and takes some

out.

AMIR (CONT'D)
You just crack them like this.
He bends the glowsticks until they SNAP, and show off their
color.

HUGH
Wow.
 20.

Everyone oohs and aahs. Amir hands a blue glowstick to Hugh

who then turns on a candle.

MIKE
I'm gonna see if the power's out in
the whole neighborhood.

Mike goes to the door. Hugo follows.

Everyone admires their glowsticks and plays with them.

Mike and Hugo come back.

MIKE (CONT'D)
Okay, so, this is a little strange.
But there is no power in the whole
neighborhood, except for a house a
few blocks up.

HUGH
It's kind of beautiful, actually.

MIKE
I've nevr seen it look so dark
before.

Curious, everyone starts to make their way out of the house.

Beth stays behind and follows.

BETH
You can't leave me here. Don't
leave me by myself!

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Everyone goes out with their glowsticks.

MIKE
Amir, dude, I can't see you!

Amir waves his glowstick. They all stand close to each other.
Mike points at the house with light.
MIKE (CONT'D)
See that? That one house has light.

HUGH
They must have a generator or
something?

MIKE
Yeah.
 21.

HUGH
Could their landline be working?

MIKE
Oh wow, look at that.

They look up at the sky.

BETH
Oh my, it's magnificent.
Dune's Comet soars across the sky very very slowly. Fragments
fall off.

LEE
Well, I'm freezing.

They all start to head back inside.

INT. HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

They enter the house.

MIKE
That was awesome, right?!

Beth notices a broken glass.

BETH
I didn't see that get knocked over.
Did anyone see that get knocked
over?

Dismissive, everyone shakes their heads.

BETH (CONT'D)
Guys, seriously, what if--what's
going on with that house?

AMIR
Because they have a generator.

BETH
Really?!

HUGH
Maybe if they're off the grid. It
makes sense if they're off the
grid. Actually, I think I'm going
to go over there.
 22.

BETH
What?! No, you're not going over
there!

Hugh stands up.

HUGH
Honey, it's okay. It's not...
He gets on his knees and close to Beth in a comforting
position.

HUGH (CONT'D)
...my brother, he said that if
anything strange were to happen
that we should stay inside.

AMIR
What?

Hugh looks at Amir and smiles.

HUGH
Just hold on, Amir.
(To Beth)
That we should stay inside. And
that I should do my best to contact
him. That's all I'm doing.

KEVIN
He said if anything strange should
happen?
MIKE
Didn't he say to stay inside,
though? Why is one more important
than the other?

HUGH
It's only two blocks away.

BETH
Then, you can't go by yourself.
Amir raises his hand.

AMIR
There we go, I'll take Amir.

Hugh gets up. Beth embraces him.

BETH
Stay here.
 23.

LEE
(To Amir)
Why are you going too?

MIKE
Take your glowsticks so we can
identify your bodies.

AMIR
Good idea!
Hugh LAUGHS.

BETH
(Upset)
Great.

Hugh and Amir head for the door.

BETH (CONT'D)
(To Hugh and Amir)
Five minutes!

AMIR
Beth, I couldn't find your shoes,
I'm borrowing yours.

They laugh. Laurie rolls her eyes and shakes her head.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Beth settles in.

BETH
Ten minutes we give them.

EM
They will be fine. It's just that
we're all so addicted to our
computers and our cellphones.

Mike nods.

LAURIE
Em, you seem to be the expert on
this right now. What happened last
time?

EM
This one passed over a hundred
years ago but much farther.
 24.

LAURIE
And nothing happened?

EM
Nothing happened. It was too far
away.
LAURIE
So, is there any reason we should
be freaked out right now?

EM
Well, it's a lot more closer this
time.

Laurie fixes her hair, nervous.

LAURIE
Does that mean anything?

EM
I've got one more thing.

Laurie smiles, trying to calm down.

LEE
Another story.

EM
One more. It's called the Tunguska
Event. And it was a comet or a
meteor, I'm not sure what. And it
passed over Siberia and then it
exploded, so it didn't actually
have any physical impact, it didn't
leave any crater or anything. But
the force of that impact flattened
trees for miles and miles. But it
only killed like one or two people.

BETH
If it's Siberia there was only like
two people there.

MIKE
What's the entire population of
Siberia?

EM
(resigned)
Yeah.

BETH
That doesn't make me feel better.
 25.

KEVIN
And when was this?

EM
Like nineteen-o-five, nineteen-o-
eight.

BANG. BANG. BANG. Three terrifying knocks startle everyone

and get their asses off their chairs.

EM (CONT'D)
What is that?!

KEVIN
What the hell was that?!

MIKE
Lock the front door.

LEE
Let me go get the bat.

KEVIN
Mike, lock the door.
Lee hands Kevin the bat.

LAURIE
No!

Everyone is freaking out. Kevin makes his way to the door.

MIKE
What the hell is out there?

EM
Kevin, please...

Bat at the ready, Kevin peeks out the door.

KEVIN
There's nothing out there.

LEE
Oh, thank God.

KEVIN
There's nothing.

LEE
(To Mike)
Could you please check the
generator?
 26.

MIKE
Yeah, I'll check the generator.
Mike walks away.

BETH
Did the guys do that?!

KEVIN
No, the guys wouldn't do anything
stupid like that.
BETH
How long have they been gone?

KEVIN
I dunno, we said five minutes to go
there, five minutes to go back.

BETH
So they should be back by now.

KEVIN
Yeah.

BETH
Oh, good. I think we should go get
them.

EMILY
No, no. We should go get them
together, guys.

KEVIN
I'm not going anywhere. It just
seems like---Oh God.

BETH
We'll go together.

The power comes back on. Everyone BREATHES in relief.

EM
Was that the grid or the generator?

Kevin peeks out the window.

KEVIN
It's just us.

BETH
Oh, so it must be.

Mike comes back, waving triumphantly.

 27.

MIKE
Thank you.

Lee high-fives him.

LEE
You did it.

MIKE
Let there be light.

BETH
I think that as a group we should
go find those guys.

OVERLAPPING DIALOGUE as everyone argues against it.

EM
That's ridiculous.

LAURIE
Whenever you get lost in the woods,
you're supposed to settle down and
wait until someone comes for you.

Kevin puts his hand on Beth's shoulder to comfort her.

BETH
You know what, I'm actually
agreeing with what you're saying.

LAURIE
You've been talking shit all night.

BETH
I'm agreeing with you.

LEE
Guys, guys, guys.

Everyone sits down.

EM
I can't believe this.

The doorbell RINGS. Everyone looks at the door.

KEVIN
Jesus!

Kevin picks up the bat and heads for the door.

MIKE
Stay.
 28.

Kevin peeks out.

KEVIN
It's them.

He opens the door. Hugh and Amir enter.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
What the hell happened?!

BETH
Are you okay?!

Hugh has a bleeding wound across his face. Beth goes to him.

BETH (CONT'D)
What happened?!

HUGH
I'm fine, I'm fine.

Amir comes in with a lockbox and places it on the table.

EM
What's in that box?!
He takes his coat off.

AMIR
That was in the other house. It was
outside. Hugh took it, he ran out--

EM
You just took it?!

AMIR
I suddenly just had it in my hand.

Hugh comes back along with Beth.

EM
What happened?!

HUGH
I'm fine, I'm fine.
Hugh notices the box.

HUGH (CONT'D)
Why the fuck did you grab that
thing?!

AMIR
I saw you put it down!
 29.

HUGH
I never touched that thing and I
don't know why you grabbed it.
EM
What happened?!

AMIR
We went to the other house. I heard
some kind of noise. Hugh made some
kind of sound. Then you saw
something, I don't know what--
BETH
What the hell is going on?

EM
What did you see?

HUGH
That has fucking nothing to do with
what we should be concerned about.

AMIR
I'll walk it back!

Mike grabs the box.

MIKE
I'm gonna open it.

BETH
What is that?!

HUGH
I don't know!

AMIR
You don't wanna talk about it?! You
don't wanna open the box?!

HUGH
Fine! Open the fucking box!
EM
What is wrong with you?!

BETH
Calm down.

Mike tries to open the box, but it needs a key. He opens it

with a tiny pick.
 30.

MIKE
Holy shit, it worked.

LAURIE
Open it away from your face.

EM
It's not a bomb.

LAURIE
How do you even know what the heck
it is?

Mike starts to open it.

LEE
Be careful.

He peeks inside. Everyone gets closer. Beth and Hugh turn.

LAURIE
What is it?

Mike pulls out a paddle.

MIKE
It's a paddle.

Laurie sees an envelope and takes it out. She opens it and

finds pictures of all of them inside of it.
EM
Is that--

LAURIE
Oh my God.

Hugh approaches the table.

EM
These are pictures of all of us.

Em flips the pictures. There are numbers for each of them,

running from 1 to 6.

LAURIE
They marked us and there are
numbers on the back.

Hugh walks away from them.

BETH
What did you see?
 31.

He doesn't answer.

KEVIN
Jesus Christ, man, you can't just
stand there and not say anything?!
What did you see?!
Hugh hesitates to reply.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
There are pictures of us!

BETH
Hugh!

He turns around to answer.

HUGH
I went to the window and looked
through the window, and I saw a
table with wine glasses, a dinner
set for eight people. I saw...

Hugh gestures toward his friends.

MIKE
All right, you know what? Fuck you,
Hugh.

Kevin points at the door.

KEVIN
Did you come through this door?

AMIR
The side door of the house.

HUGH
I went through the front door of
the house, they wouldn't answer, so
I went to the side-door--

Everyone FREAKS OUT.

KEVIN
This side door?!
HUGH
I went to the front door, they
wouldn't answer so I went to the
side-door of the house-

EM
Did you see yourself, Hugh?
 32.

HUGH
No, I didn't see myself because I
wasn't there. We're going in a
circle!
Hugh turns away, exhales.

HUGH (CONT'D)
Fuck.

KEVIN
I don't believe this.

Laurie looks at the pictures.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
What's in the back of those
pictures?

LAURIE
Numbers. We've got 2, 1, Beth's 5.

Hugh heads for the door. Beth grabs him.

BETH
Woah woah woah, where are you
going?

HUGH
I'm going to the front door. Think
about it, I'm just going to ask to
use their phone, and if they're not
there, I'll leave a note. Makes
sense, right?

Beth shakes her head.

EM
You should not go back--

Hugh just walks past, not even looking at her.

HUGH
It's fine, it's fine. It'll be
fucking fine.

He sits down to write the note. Beth gets closer. Hugh

writes: "Hey there! Don't mean to freak you guys out..." but
before we can read everything he's writing, there is a BUMP.

Startled, Laurie backs away from the window.

 33.

LAURIE
Holy shit, there's someone out
there. There's someone out there!

EM
Oh my God.

Amir peeks.

AMIR
There's a big guy at the door.
BETH
Oh my God.

MIKE
At the door?!

EM
Please please....
LAURIE
Baby, please be careful.

Amir and Kevin head for the door, the latter carrying the
baseball bat.

EM
Baby, be careful.

Kevin gets closer.

KEVIN
Shit.

EM
What?

He opens the door. There is a note pased to the window. Kevin

takes it off.
LEE
What is it?

KEVIN
(Reading the note)
"Hey there, don't mean to freak you
guys out..."

Hugh looks on in shock as he realizes the note Kevin is

holding matches his.
 34.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
"...but we just want to borrow your
phone for five minutes tops.
Thanks."

What the flying fuck?

INT. LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Beth treats Hugh's wounds while Lee reads from the band-aid
box.

LEE
Two kinds: Band-aid or cloth?

Hugh shakes his head.

HUGH
(Pained and reeling)
Ugh. Whatever. The cloth.

Lee gently puts the cloth on Hugh's head. He closes his eyes
in pain.

LEE
Easy easy, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Hugh approaches the table as Em goes through the pictures.

EM
These are 1s, this is a 2, we are
4, 5,6.
(To Lee)
Do you have any red markers?

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Em goes through the pictures.

EM
Why are these three 1s? This is a
six, five, two. Four.
Kevin points at one of the pictures.

KEVIN
And these are the same picture.
 35.

He puts it together, it brings Em together with ANOTHER GUY.

Em and Kevin are weirded out.

EM
Where are these--where are these
from? Is there something in like
numerology?

BETH
If you add all the numbers in your
name, all the numbers in the pack,
maybe--

LAURIE
That's crazy and probably doesn't
matter anyway.
(To Em)
So what do all the 1s have in
common?

EM
We have...

Em writes: 1 - Hugh. 1- Mike. 2- Laurie. 4- Beth. 4 - Em...

EM (CONT'D)
There's no three.

LAURIE
Is there some who would want to be
doing this to us? Is there someone
that got on someone's bad side?

Amir grabs one of the pictures and looks at everyone else.

BETH
What?

AMIR
This was taken tonight.

EM
What? How do you know that?

It's a picture of him.

AMIR
I brough that sweater today so
that's from tonight.

Em grabs the picture.

 36.

EM
Has anyone taken a picture of you
tonight?
BETH
Someone took a picture of you on
the box?

EM
The lens. You're looking into the
lens.

LAURIE
The picture was already in the box.

Amir and Kevin look at the picture.

AMIR
I can't tell where that is. Is that
the lampshade?

KEVIN
None from the others are from
tonight, right?

EM
No, these are the pictures from
last fall. It's crazy!

Kevin goes to a side of the room.

KEVIN
I think this is the wall, but I
can't figure it out.

BETH
Where was it taken from?

Em looks at Kevin and the door.

EM
The door? Was it taken from the
door? From behind the curtain?

LEE
(To Kevin)
When someone knocked at the door,
were you over there?

KEVIN
But you're looking right at the
camera.
Amir shrugs, sarcastically.
 37.

LEE
So it would be from that door then,
right?

KEVIN
You don't remember? This is you,
man. This is you!

Amir shrugs again. What are you asking me for?

MIKE
Guys, this isn't going to solve
anything.

Mike stands up.

HUGH
What are you doing?

Mike goes to the kitchen.

LEE
I'm getting a drink.

Hugh considers for a moment.

HUGH
All right, me too.

Kevin stays with Em.

EM
It looks like my handwriting.

She taps her fingers on the written numbers.

EM (CONT'D)
It looks like I wrote this.

KEVIN
You're starting to freak out about
your handwriting.

Em looks on the verge of tears.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
(Smirking in disbelief)
What is going on?
Em covers her face, trying to hide her crying. But keeps it
together.

EM
I feel like I'm losing my mind.
 38.

EM (CONT'D)
I can't stop thinking about the
fact that they brought up a story
you shared with Laurie. Of all the
stories that you could've--of all
the experiences that we've shared,
you brought up--

KEVIN
I'm so sorry--

EM
--In front of everyone.

KEVIN
We don't have stories like that.

EM
Oh, I'm not crazy enough for you?

Kevin caresses her face.

KEVIN
It's a good thing.

EM
Oh my God.

KEVIN
I don't need crazy stories like
that anymore.

Mike returns.

MIKE
Hi. Fuck this. Let's do this. I'm
gonna go over there and see if our
theoretical selves are okay.

Some laugh.

BETH
No.

LEE
No, no, no.
EM
There's something weird going on
here. Can we please evaluate--

MIKE
I just evaluated and I'm going.
 39.

EM
All of us together?

MIKE
Let's go. I'm over this. I'm
getting sick of talking about this,
I'm getting sick of writing about
it. The same fucking picture. The
pictures.

AMIR
There's nothing there to stop us
from going there and finding out
what the fuck is going on.

MIKE
(To Hugh)
What about you? You're the one who
wanted to go.

HUGH
That's when I thought they might
have a phone.

Lee turns to Amir.

LEE
Can we please keep like two guys
here? Two guys staying here,
please?

HUGH
I'm staying, I'm staying.
EM
So what? We're splitting up again?

AMIR
No, no, we're going into two
different groups.

EM
Um...okay?

Em stands up. Mike brings out the glowsticks.

MIKE
Sticks! Sticks! Sticks!

Em runs toward them.

EM
I'm coming!
 40.

She starts to put on a sweater.

EM (CONT'D)
Can't you just chill for a second?!
I'm coming! I wanna go! I'm going
with Kevin.

KEVIN
Give us twenty minutes.

LEE
All right.

HUGH
And then what?

KEVIN
It'll be fine. We'll be fine. All
right?

Kevin makes it out the door and starts to close it.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
We'll find out what's going on.

Kevin closes the door. Amir, Lee and Hugh stay in their
places, full of worry. Lee turns to them, not very optimistic
this was a good idea.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Laurie, Kevin, Mike and Em stand outside, all with blue
glowsticks.

KEVIN
No cars. No people. There's
nothing.

They all carefully start walking. Kevin turns on a

flashlight, letting its light guide their steps.

MIKE
Guys, look.

He points.

MIKE (CONT'D)
That's my house.

KEVIN
Mike?!
 41.

MIKE
This is my house.

EXT. ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

Mike, Kevin, Em and Laurie get closer.

KEVIN
Mike, this isn't right.

They all start to WHISPER.

MIKE
My house...

EM
Mike! What are you doing?!
Mike peeks through the window.

MIKE
I see Lee.

LAURIE
We have to go!

KEVIN
Let's get out of here now!

Laurie signals at them to leave.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
Someone's coming. We have to go!

Mike starts to turn away from the window.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
Go, go, go.

They all run out of the driveway.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

The group runs out but they all freeze as they see their
identical selves standing right across from them, carrying
flashlights and RED GLOWSTICKS. Their breathing QUICKENS as
they try to take in the shock of this moment.

Em turns to her group, as if trying to figure out if they're

seeing what she's seeing, or if they have any explanation. Or
both. Her gaze goes back to the DOPPELGANGERS.
 42.

The doppelgangers notice they're being watched and scram. And

so do they.

INT. HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Beth stares on in disbelief.

BETH
This doesn't make sense.

Em, Laurie, Kevin and Mike are standing across from her. They
shrug. What can they tell her?

AMIR
So you're saying they're the same
as you?

KEVIN
That's right. But they had red
glowsticks.

AMIR
Blue glowsticks, but you had--

MIKE
They had red glowsticks! That was
the only difference!

EM
So they must've opened the red box.

BETH
And you didn't say anything to
them?

LAURIE
Would you?!

BETH
No, I wouldn't. I would've thought
I was gonna die or something.

AMIR
Okay okay, so then what?
EM
Well, that and there's this weird
zone that's even darker than the
rest of it all.

HUGH
We went through that.
 43.

Em turns to him.
EM
Yeah?

AMIR
We went through that.

BETH
What?

EM
Okay, we need to find out what's
going on. We can't just sit here.
What else? Do you guys have books?

MIKE
Books on what? Books on comets?
I've got Shakespeare, some Miller
and some screenplays! I'm a fucking
actor!
Kevin puts his hand on Mike's shoulder, trying to calm him
down.

BETH
Anything like books on physics?

Amir whispers to Hugh.

MIKE
Yeah, that's right. Totally my
area.

LAURIE
Some actors read.

BETH
Your brother left a book in our
house...

HUGH
What?!

BETH
And put it in an envelope to mail,
but I put it back in the car--

HUGH
And it's about...comets?

BETH
I don't know what it's about! But
why wouldn't it be about that?
 44.

Dazed, Hugh moves away from the living room.

HUGH
Yeah, I'll go get the book.

EM
Can somebody go with him?

LAURIE
Can you bring the bat?

Kevin walks out with Hugh, carrying the bat.

LAURIE (CONT'D)
Yeah, that's a good idea.

EM
Please be careful, babe.

They leave.

EM (CONT'D)
Okay.

AMIR
Should we wake up Lee?

LAURIE
How could she take a nap? How could
she fall asleep in the middle of
all this?

Em's eyes are fixes to the door.

EM
She--
Em SCREAMS and backs away. Everyone looks at her. The door
opens. She GIGGLES a little.
EM (CONT'D)
I'm sorry, babe. I'm so sorry.
Hugh enters with an envelope as Kevin opens the door for him.

HUGH
Calm down, Emily.
KEVIN
Oh, baby.
He laughs and embraces Em. Hugh opens the envelope and takes
out a book from it.
 45.

BETH
What is it?

HUGH
(Reading the book's title)
Gravitation: An Introduction to
Research.
Beth rolls her eyes.

AMIR
Is your brother like a scientist?
BETH
He's like a really trippy guy. He's
smart. A big egghead. But it's hard
to--it's like he thinks out loud.
He was a teacher at USC.
Hugh reads sheets of paper that we placed on the book.

HUGH
These are Brian's notes from his
lesson plan. "The Coherence of
Schroedinger's Cat." He talked
about this. Do you guys know about
this?

MIKE
I'm allergic.
Hugh scoffs at the joke.

HUGH
So it's this--it's a thought
experiment. There's a cat in a box
that has like a fifty-fifty chance
of living, because there's like a
vial of poison also in the box. So
regular Physics would say that it's
one or the other. The cat is dead
or alive, but Brian would argue
that Quantum Physics would argue
that both realities exist
simultanously. So it's only that
when you open the box that they
collapse into a single event. So,
listen to this, this is what he's
written: "There's another theory
that two states can exist
simultaneously as the other,
creating a new branch of reality
depending of the outcomes.
(MORE)
 46.
HUGH (CONT'D)
Quantum establishes that no
repercussions exist from the
interactions with one another.
Confused, Mike covers his face.
MIKE
Hold on.

He takes his hands off his face.

MIKE (CONT'D)
So we're in the box? Were the cat
were both alive and dead...so there
are two realities that presumably
happened when the comet passed?
EM
Until the comet passes.

AMIR
Or the coherence will be maintained
as those two realities stay
separate, and everyone will be
fine.

KEVIN
The coherence keeps us separate.
HUGH
Right.
EM
Why are the other us contacting tus
this way, then?
KEVIN
They didn't want to.
EM
Who got the pictures? Who got the
numbers?
KEVIN
If we started it--
EM
The box. Maybe the box isn't for
us.
MIKE
It has already interacted with
ourselves. So we're collapsing on
ourselves right now.
 47.

HUGH
Not if they're separate from each
other.
MIKE
It's already too late we've been
there.
LAURIE
Do you remember that movie "Sliding
Doors" where...
Beth facepalms.

LAURIE (CONT'D)
...in just a fraction of a second,
there would be two realities: In
one, she tries to go to the subway,
she can't, the door closes. In the
other, she gets through and there's
two realities--
MIKE
If we're collapsing right now, I'm
not gonna wait on them to collapse
on us. I'll go over there and just
kill them.

EM
What?
KEVIN
Let's be smart for a second before
we do anything stupid and let's
think about what we do now.

MIKE
And what's smart? Sitting here?
Doing nothing?

KEVIN
What we do now is that we took this
box.
HUGH
Our first action should be
returning it.
MIKE
Fuck that. I don't trust that
house. That box stays here.
KEVIN
What's got you so freaked out?
 48.

AMIR
We're not at war with the house
down the street. They might
literally be the same people as us.

MIKE
Fuck that.

KEVIN
If you do it first you are going to
run into you. What are you gonna do
with that?
Mike considers. Kevin might be right.

AMIR
What did you see in the window
anyway? Did you see yourself?

MIKE
I did not see myself. I told you
what I saw. But what if back there,
in that house, what if I'm
drinking? I mean, just think about
that for a second. It's a fucked up
Michael.

EM
Oh God.

MIKE
I'm not gonna wait for drunk Mike
to come here and kill me, and
(to everyone else present)
kill you, and kill you, and kill
you. I'm not waiting for that.

Everyone stares at Mike. What the fuck is wrong with him? Is

he right, though?

HUGH
Who did you see when you were
there?

MIKE
I saw Amir, I saw Hugh and I
saw...Lee.

KEVIN
Lee's not here right now.

EM
She's taking a nap.
 49.

MIKE
Why's she taking a nap?

KEVIN
Something's off. In this reality,
Lee is taking a nap. But in that
reality...
(He points at Beth)
...you're napping.

LAURIE
(To Beth)
And that's why Mike didn't see you.

KEVIN
Exactly, and if you're napping in
that reality, they don't have the
book.
EM
They don't.
KEVIN
The other house doesn't have the
book. And if they don't have the
book, then they're not having this
conversation right now.

MIKE
So if we get the book from the car,
we can pull out of this.

BETH
You can take their book?

KEVIN
It's a possibility.

Mike gestures at Hugh.

MIKE
Gimme your keys.

HUGH
No, no, no. Wait. You're not
supposed to mess with any of this.
AMIR
Why is he even considering doing
this?
KEVIN
He's talking about killing them.
 50.

HUGH
Why make it worse?
MIKE
So I don't have to go there and
kill them. Just give me the keys.

HUGH
I don't think that we should do
anything. And you are not taking my
keys.
Mike walks away.

KEVIN
Where are you going, Mike?
LAURIE
How do we know it's exactly us?
AMIR
What if it's like the dark side?
LAURIE
Yeah.

EM
You mean the not friendly version?
Well, if it's us, is it a good
thing? It could be a place to reach
higher consciousness. We're always
talking about finding ourselves,
meeting ourselves, and here we have
an opportunity to actually find
ourselves.

LAURIE
That's a lot of pressure.
Mike returns with Lee.

EM
How are you, honey?

LEE
(Groggy and happy)
Okay.

Mike whispers something to Kevin. Kevin whispers back.

LEE (CONT'D)
How is the dinner party going?
 51.

EM
It's going.
Mike walks away. Kevin follows him. They step away to a
corner, away from everyone.

MIKE
I have an idea. I'm getting that
book from the car.
KEVIN
What are you talking about, man?

MIKE
I'm going into that house, and
blackmail myself, and leave a note
to keep myself away from that book.
KEVIN
Blackmail?
MIKE
Tell him I slept with Beth.

KEVIN
You and Beth went out years ago.
It's the worst idea I've ever
heard.
MIKE
It's amazing and it will work on
me.
KEVIN
No, you don't know that.
MIKE
It's brilliant.
KEVIN
It's not brilliant.

Mike leaves.
KEVIN (CONT'D)
Mike, no.
Kevin goes back to the table, standing next to Em.

AMIR
...our versions. Otherwise, they're
the same people.
 52.

HUGH
If they're the same people, why not
leave each other alone? I mean,
that's the respectful thing to do.
LEE
It would be the best thing to do.
KEVIN
Are you okay?

Em holds her hand.

LEE
Yeah, I don't know. I just felt
woozy from the drops. But--
EM
What drops?
HUGH
(To Beth)
Did you give her--
Em and Kevin turn to Hugh.
BETH
Yeah, she took--

LEE
I just felt so weird--

BETH
Stuff that I brought.
EM
Oh my God, Beth!
BETH
It's a little rescue remedy. It's a
combination of passionflower, and a
little ketamine.

Everyone LAUGHS.
AMIR
A little ketamine?!
BETH
It's not like--what?
 53.

EM
I'm so sorry to be here and about
to say something incredibly
inappropriate...

A beat.
BETH
What?
EM
Did you put any of that in the
food?
AMIR
Yes! Everything now makes sense!
BETH
Oh, come on, Amir. Are you
serious?!
EM
Please--
BETH
She asked to give her some, and I
gave her some. When we did the
mushrooms years ago, we talked
about them and I put them in the
spaghetti. We agreed on it by
decision. So do you think that I
would put drugs in your food?!
LAURIE
Oh my God!
Beth stands up and leaves, walking into...

INT. HOUSE - KITCHEN - NIGHT

Everyone follows Beth.

BETH
On top of all things you think I'd
drug you?!
She shows them the vial.

BETH (CONT'D)
This is the vial that I brought.

Laurie takes it.

 54.

LAURIE
And a quarter of it is gone.

BETH
She's had a couple of drops. That's
it.

LAURIE
This is like a high grade
pharmaceutical.
BETH
It's watered down!

AMIR
If it's true, you would have to
have hallucinations.

HUGH
You would have to have a massive
dose. You would have to have to
take the entire bottle.
AMIR
Okay. Fine. But is it true?
BETH
Yes.

AMIR
Can one of the other effects be
paranoia?
HUGH
Yes. But again, you would have to
have--
BETH
---the whole bottle. The whole
bottle.
HUGH
Or even if all of us took a whole
bottle each, it would never create
a mass hallucination.

BETH
I'm not a criminal!
AMIR
It would be a nice conclusion.
Wouldn't this be great if we were
hallucinating?
 55.

BETH
There must be an explanation.
EM
I believe you.
Beth shows them the vial again.

BETH
This is the bottle. She asked for
some. I gave her some. I did not
drug your food. Get me off!
Beth looks at a decoration on the wall. Em whispers to Kevin,
shaking her head.

BETH (CONT'D)
Where did you get this? This looks
so cute.
LEE
Oh, I got it at First Galaxy. It's
a new store.
BETH
It's great!
LEE
I know. They have such cute stuff.

BETH
I need a drink.

Lee chuckles.
BETH (CONT'D)
Just wanna wake up and start again,
you know?

INT. HOUSE - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Amir and Hugh enter. They close the kitchen door. Hugh brings
out a red glowstick. He goes over to a box and picks out a
blue glowstick.
HUGH
Blue.
He grabs another box.

HUGH (CONT'D)
These are uncracked.
 56.

AMIR
What are we gonna do?

HUGH
We have to get the fuck outta here.

AMIR
Take the book.

HUGH
Can you take the box?
Mike enters from the front door with a blue glowstick,
startling them. Amir turns.
AMIR
Hey, you okay?
HUGH
Where'd you go?

MIKE
I need a drink.

Kevin enters and approaches Mike.

KEVIN
Hey, what--where did you go?
MIKE
You don't have to ask, dude. I told
you.
KEVIN
What happened?
MIKE
Just dropped the letter. I saw the
book.
Amir puts together the photographs.

MIKE (CONT'D)
I was gonna smash the window and
take the book. I didn't do that,
though. I did not do that. I just
dropped the letter. And I was gonna
wait to see the reaction. But I
fucking freaked out.

KEVIN
You were away for like five
minutes.
 57.

MIKE
Forty-five minutes, dude.
KEVIN
No, dude. You talked to me. You
left and you were gone for five
minutes tops.

Mike taps Kevin's forehead.

MIKE
You're fucking crazy.
Mike picks out a bottle.

KEVIN
Oh Mike. Mike, don't do that.

Amir keeps putting the box's contents together. Hugh and Amir
quietly leave out the back door. Lee enters.
LEE
Mike, don't do this. Please, why
now?

MIKE
Why not now?
He pours himself a glass and starts to drink. Everyone
enters.
BETH
Where have you been? Where's Hugh?
LAURIE
Where's Amir?

KEVIN
More importantly, where's the box?

LEE
Oh my God, they took the box.
BETH
Mike, where did they go?
MIKE
I have no clue.
BETH
You were in here while we were in
there. What happened?!
 58.

EM
Where's the book? Where is the
book?
LAURIE
Why would they bring that into the
other house?
KEVIN
They said they wanted to take it to
make everything back. So when they
return it it will be fine from the
beginning.
BETH
Why is the book the one thing they
took?
KEVIN
They took everything we've got.
BETH
We have to go get them.

LAURIE
Wait a minute. They were the first
ones to leave, right? They came
back, they say that they saw
something and they've been acting
weird ever since.

KEVIN
Boy, you're blind.

LEE
Oh my God.
LAURIE
Think about it!
BETH
You guys left too!
LAURIE
They left and they returned all
weird.
Kevin goes to the door.

KEVIN
I'll bring them back. I'll see
what's going on.

Em gets between Kevin and the door.

 59.

EM
You're not going anywhere.

Kevin puts his scarf on.

KEVIN
I'll bring them back. I'll just
bring them back and find out what
the hell's going on.

Em places her hands over the lock.

EM
You won't! You're not leaving!

KEVIN
It's fine!

EM
No! I'm not gonna let you go!

Everyone goes quiet.

EM (CONT'D)
It would be fucking crazy.
Kevin takes off his scarf and goes back to the table.

LAURIE
Okay, so what are we going to do?
BETH
What are we going to do? I swear to
God I'm having a heart attack or
something. I swear I need a drink.

LAURIE
How do we even know that was them?

KEVIN
It was them!
BETH
Could you not say that, please?!
BETH (CONT'D)
I'm just thinking that maybe Mike
was right. He saw us in the other
house. We can't trust ourselves.

KEVIN
That's right. And they just left
the house.
 60.

Beth leaves the room.

EM
No, wait.

She goes to the table.

EM (CONT'D)
The clues are still here. What if
they have it here?!
Beth leaves.
BETH
I can't do this anymore.

Em looks at Mike.
EM
Can't you at least go look for it?
Mike taps a fork against the table.

MIKE
I'm gonna go look for another
bottle of wine.

He stands up and leaves. Em is left alone. She sits down and

thinks.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Lee's hands wash a glass.
LEE
This is so stupid. Should I be
keeping an eye on him? I don't
wanna hover and...I dunno...
Beth approaches her.

BETH
Just wait a minute and then you can
talk to him.
Her hands reach for a bottle of Ketamin. She fiddles with it.

LEE
His life's just wrong when he
drinks. Everything that's ever gone
wrong with him is because of his
drinking.
(MORE)
 61.

LEE (CONT'D)
He forgets his lines, he doesn't
get auditions. It's just...I dunno.

She puts a washed glass aside.

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Mike comes with an envelope and scissors. He hands them to
Em. Em opens the envelope, and reveals the contents: The
photographs of her and Kevin, the photographs from the box.
Mike pushes the scissors to Em. Em grabs them and fiddles
with them as she looks at the pictures. She looks at Mike.

He takes the bottle of wine and his blue glowstick. Leaves.

Em fiddles with the scissors and the photographs.

INT. BEDROOM - NIGHT

Kevin enters. Laurie is inside.
LAURIE
Hey.

KEVIN
Hey.

LAURIE
How are you doing?
KEVIN
All things considered, all right.
LAURIE
I totally don't believe you.
She laughs.

KEVIN
It's all--

LAURIE
What's going on? You told me you
were going to Vietnam. Em's not
going with you?

Beth eavesdrops.
KEVIN
Yeah. I'm gonna go for some four
months. I want her to come along,
but--
 62.

LAURIE
She'd be crazy not to come with
you. I don't know. I don't really
want to interfere. Doesn't seem
like any of my business, but I
think you always seem so passionate
about your life and what you're
doing. So having a partner that
hesitates all the time doesn't--I
don't know if that's gonna make you
happy.

KEVIN
I dunno, geez. I love her. It's
just who she is. A little...

LAURIE
...tall?

They laugh.
LAURIE (CONT'D)
A little bit tall?
Laurie gets a little too close for comfort.

LAURIE (CONT'D)
Sometimes people just fit.

KEVIN
Laurie...
LAURIE
Like when we went swimming with
sharks.
She laughs.
LAURIE (CONT'D)
I'm just saying that maybe...

Laurie pulls him into a kiss. He separates himself from her.

KEVIN
Laurie.
LAURIE
Sorry, I'm crossing all kinds of
boundaries.
KEVIN
Yeah.
 63.

Kevin leaves. Laurie is left standing against a wall,

thinking about what just happened.

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Em sits alone, looking at the pictures. Beth places her glass

of wine on the table.

BETH
Baby...
Em looks up, affectionate.
EM
Hi.

BETH
You know, I think you're right.
Everything happens for a reason.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Lee enters. She leans down and finds Mike drinking on the
floor. Sits down next to him.

LEE
We could have a bath.
MIKE
For you or for me?
LEE
(Laughing)
Could be both.
A beat.

LEE (CONT'D)
What are we doing here?

MIKE
If I'm losing it over there, I'm
losing it here.

LEE
It doesn't have to be like that.

MIKE
Sure it does. It's the same thing.
LEE
No it's not.
 64.

MIKE
What are you thinking?
LEE
There's no way that anybody over
there or anywhere loves you as much
as I do.

Mike seems like he wants to cry. Lee kisses his shoulder and
cuddles with him. Mike taps his glass of wine and stares into
space for a moment.
MIKE
I fucked up.

INT. KITCHEN - NIGHT

Kevin pours himself some water. Em enters. They face each

other.
EM
Hi.
KEVIN
Hi.
EM
How you doing?

He drinks from his glass.

KEVIN
Um...I'm fine.
EM
Is everything okay? Are you okay
with everything going on?...Beth
just walked up to me and she didn't
say much, but she said that she saw
you and Laurie talking in the
hallway and...

Kevin shakes his head.

KEVIN
Jesus Christ, Em...there's more
important things to worry about
right now than what Beth has to
say.

He swigs his whole glass and slams it on the table, and walks
away from Em, leaving her watching him.
 65.

The POWER GOES OUT.

BETH
Oh, fuck!

LEE
Goddammit.
KEVIN
We need a fucking generator.

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Mike lights a candle on a table. Em lights another.

EM
Jesus.
MIKE
Kevin, you've got matches?
KEVIN
Yeah, I have some.
Kevin takes out some matches and lights them up. Em keeps
lighting and placing candles all over. She shares some of her
fire with Beth. A BUMP makes them all turn to the door.
LEE
Woah.
KEVIN
That was right up front. That
sounded like one of our own. Look,
I'm going out there. I can't stay
like this. I'm sorry.

BETH
Don't go out there! Maybe we should
all go!

KEVIN
Fine, let's go, all of us. But I'm
going.

MIKE
Who's got a flashlight?

Kevin turns on his flashlight.

KEVIN
I've got one right here.
 66.

LEE
Are you guys gonna be okay?

KEVIN
Yeah.
MIKE
Stay close, stay close.

EXT. HOUSE - NIGHT

Kevin, Lee, Mike, Beth and Em leave the house carrying
glowsticks.

LEE
Where did it come from?

KEVIN
I dunno.

Kevin flashes his flashlight on a truck.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
That's it, right?
His flashlight reveals a broken window.

LEE
Oh my God.
They inspect the car.

LEE (CONT'D)
Is there anything in there?

KEVIN
I don't see anything.

LEE
Oh my God.
There is glass all over the seats.

LEE (CONT'D)
Should we check our car?

KEVIN
Yeah.

LEE
We'll check out our cars.
 67.

KEVIN
Okay.
They walk to the other cars.

BETH
Is everyone nearby? We shouldn't
split out too much.

Em presses her keys. Her car's ALARM beeps and flashes.

INT. EM'S CAR - NIGHT

Em peeks inside. She opens the glove compartment. Inside
there is a napkin with a ring on it. Em inspects the ring,
puts it on. Someone KNOCKS at her window, startling her. She
looks up to see it's Kevin. SIGHS. Relieved, she gets out of
the car.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Em closes the door to her car.

KEVIN
You okay?
EM
Yeah, I just...

She aims her flashlight at the ring on her hand.

EM (CONT'D)
...put this ring on. You got it for
me at the fair. Remember? I know
it's cheesy but I just want it to
have it on.
KEVIN
Cheeseball.

Kevin chuckles.
KEVIN (CONT'D)
It was a good day.
EM
It was a good day. Are we okay?
KEVIN
Yeah, babe.
 68.

EM
Even with that whole Laurie thing?

KEVIN
Uh, yeah. I don't know how she's
taking it, but yeah, we're good.

She hugs him for a long time. Comforting her, he returns the
embrace. They separate.

EM
Did you see if anything weird
happened to Hugh's car?

KEVIN
What do you mean?

EM
Did they take anything? You just
checked on his car, did they take
anything?
Kevin stares at her. She stares back. Something's wrong.
Slowly and terrified, Em backs away until she loses sight of
him. A doppelganger?

INT. DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Kevin, Laurie, Beth, Lee and Mike are all inside now. Em
enters.

LAURIE
You think someone's trying to
intimidate us?

KEVIN
Intimidate us, no. They're--

He covers his face in frustration.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
--It's as if they're looking for
something.
MIKE
But there's nothing in there!
KEVIN
Exactly, but if there's nothing in
there.
MIKE
There's nothing in there.
 69.

KEVIN
I know. Why break the windows if
there's nothing in there? That
doesn't make any sense.

LAURIE
None of this makes any sense.

Em approaches Kevin.
EM
Where were you?
She shows him the ring.

EM (CONT'D)
I went and got this ring.
KEVIN
Nice.
MIKE
Wait, hold on, let's try to figure
out why we would break into the
parked Hugo's car, assuming that
the book wasn't there?
BETH
We don't know that the book wasn't
there.
KEVIN
Maybe it's all completely
different.
KNOCKS outside.

LEE
What the hell was that?

Mike peeks out the door.

EM
Mike, no! Shit!

Losing her shit, Laurie stares out the window.

LAURIE
There's someone coming.
Kevin peeks out the window.

BETH
Is it Hugh?
 70.

KEVIN
Hugh and Amir.

LAURIE
(Relieved)
Oh, Jesus.
Amir and Hugh enter, laughing.

LEE
Oh, babe.
Beth embraces Hugh.
BETH
Babe, where have you been? What
happened? Why did you take the
book? What did you do?
HUGH
We went to make a phone call and
then when we went to the door we
saw...this, basically. I got
startled, I went back and hit my
head. We went back to the house.
BETH
We already heard this story. Why
are you telling us this story
again? You came back with a box.

HUGH
Wait? What?
LEE
You came back with--
LAURIE
You came back with a box. They gave
you the band-aid--
LEE
But not that band-aid.
LAURIE
What do you mean?
LEE
I gave you a cloth band-aid.

AMIR
Wait, there was a Hugh and Amir
here?
 71.

LAURIE
Yes. And you left with the book and
you left with the pictures, and we
didn't know where you went.
AMIR
We went to a house where everyone
had...
Amir pulls out a red glowstick.

AMIR (CONT'D)
...red glowsticks. Do you
understand? We took red glowsticks
from the other house.
Amir shows her blue and red glowsticks and then points at a
box.

AMIR (CONT'D)
Look, look. That box of red
glowsticks is unopened.
MIKE
Guys, if they started here, they
belong here. They're in the right
house.
A beat.

LEE
(Relieved)
Welcome back.
KEVIN
Welcome back.

Kevin approaches Amir and Hugh.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
Sorry.
Kevin pats Hugh.

HUGH
It's all right.

MIKE
So, guys, what was that Mike like?
What was he doing?

HUGH
The other Mike...he's worried about
you.
 72.

EM
So it's you guys who left us the
note.
HUGH
No, I never got out with that note.
We ended up with two notes.
EM
And so did we. We have two notes.
Em leans and pulls up two notes.

EM (CONT'D)
One that was written here, and the
other one that was on the door. If
you didn't, and the other Hugh
didn't. Then who's been leaving the
notes?

LAURIE
(Reading from the book)
Quantum decoherence assures that no
possibilities have interaction with
one another.
EM
That one note has been written five
times.

MIKE
How many Hughs and Amirs are
walking around out there?

Everyone's mind: Blown.

LAURIE
Okay before we figure anything out,
we have to figure out how to be
okay within our own house.

LEE
Just stay inside.
Hugh points at Beth.

HUGH
No, no, she's right.

KEVIN
Staying inside isn't realistic. We
have to mark this house.
 73.

AMIR
It's the same as if we put a mark
on that house, and then on this
one. We could end up marking an
infinite number of houses.
KEVIN
It's better to do something that
can't be repeated.

HUGH
Dice. Do we have dice?
LEE
Yahtzee.
Lee leaves to pick up the Yahtzee.

AMIR
If we we roll a number for each of
us, that's a hugely random.

KEVIN
It won't end up repeating.

LAURIE
So we've got to have something
visual. Should we write it down?
Put it outside? Put in an envelope?
AMIR
No, no.

LAURIE
We need something to mark it.

AMIR
We put it in a box.

EM
That's what they've done.
LAURIE
So they're ahead of us.
AMIR
They were putting a marker for
their house.
EM
Only we took it.
 74.

AMIR
It may seem like a good idea to us,
but it was also a good idea to
them.

EM
Do you have a box?

Lee goes to pick up a box.

HUGH
So we need photos.
LAURIE
This is so crazy.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Everyone goes through the uncut photographs.

AMIR
There are a lot of pictures of us
here.
Hugh looks at a picture of himself with a longer beard.

HUGH
Wow, look. Grizzy Adams!

They laugh as they remember or see how differen they looked.

Lee brings a box with a lock.
LEE
How's this box?
Everyone looks at it. It's the same box that was already
brought in.
LEE (CONT'D)
I already know we have it, but--
HUGH
So you have the box.

BETH
This whole time.

KEVIN
This whole time.
Em flips through the photographs.
 75.

EM
I'm not too happy about cutting
these pictures.
(To Kevin)
These are the only pictures we have
of you and I together, babe.

Laurie leans down to get her purse.

LAURIE
I actually have one of Kevin, it's
strange.

KEVIN
What?
Everyone reacts. Is she fucking kidding?

LAURIE
No, I have my bank account number
on the back of this old photo
that's been on my wallet forever.
It's right here.

It's a picture of a younger Kevin.

KEVIN
Woah.

EM
You know what? I'll just cut this
picture that we have.
Em starts to cut a photo of her embracing Kevin.

LAURIE
It's fine! I'll scratch off the
number!

Too late.
EM
Cut!
The picture is now split into two.

AMIR
I'm glad we've got one of everybody
except me. So I'm glad you guys
keep a lotta pictures of your
friend Amir.
Amir chuckles.
 76.

HUGH
I'll take one of you.
Hugh readies his camera. Something dawns on Kevin. Is this
the answer he was hoping for earlier?
Hugh aims his camera at Amir. Amir poses almost exactly like
the picture we've seen before.
KEVIN
Smile, dickhead.

FLASH. The picture is taken.

AMIR
Let me see.
(Off the photograph)
It's not exactly the same--it's not
the same as the one from the other
box. There's a picture of me in the
other house, but it's not the same
as this one. This is what we're
talking about. This is one that
could be a divergent momemnt. This
is what we're gonna do right now
with these dice.
Beth hands the dice to Amir. Em holds up a red marker.

EM
Wait, since we're the blue house,
shouldn't we use a blue pen?

LEE
That makes sense.
EM
Yeah.
LEE
Odds go up to three.
HUGH
Right. SO does everyone have a
dice?
Em counts the pictures.

EM
Beth.

Beth rolls the dice.

 77.

BETH
Six.

Em writes down "six."

EM
Hugh?
Hugh rolls.

HUGH
Three.

EM
Mike?

Mike rolls.
MIKE
Four.

LEE
Six.

EM
Two.

AMIR
Do you know what a quick code is?
You know when you go online to your
bank account? And when you go to
your password it will give you a
picture that you use?
EM
Yeah.
AMIR
That's called an MFA, a Multi-
Factor Authenticator. That's what
we put in whenever we do one of our
big websites. It's a random--

KEVIN
--a random object.

AMIR
Exactly. Each of those has a random
object in order to service that
pre-code, right?
KEVIN
Right.
 78.

HUGH
So we pick something we can put in
there. Anything.

AMIR
Right. Like a candle or a book.

EM
Or a ping-pong paddle.
AMIR
A ping-pong paddle. Exactly.
LEE
How's this?
Lee shows them a stack of cards.

KEVIN
Isn't that a bit random?
AMIR
Isn't everything a bit random
tonight? If you go to the other
house, you open up the box, you see
that, you know you're off to a good
start.
Beth takes a deep breath and sigh.

KEVIN
Okay, so we've got the box. If we
keep our heads together and nobody
wanders off, we can get through
this.

MIKE
Thanks, coach.
BETH
Yeah!
LEE
I'm gonna get a drink. We don't
know what those numbers are from
the first box.

EM
Let me check.
Em flips through a notebook.
 79.

HUGH
Where's my calculator?..So if
there's eight of us...
Em finds the numbers from the notebook. If anyone needs
refreshing: 2 - Kevin, 2 - Mike, 3 - Em, 3- Beth, 4-Amir, 5-
Lee, 5-Hugh, 5 - Laurie.
Hugh is crunching various numbers outloud with his
cellphone's calculator. He reaches a result: 5,038,848.
HUGH (CONT'D)
(To himself)
Those are all the possible
outcomes.

Em looks up, something's not right. Hugh shows her the

numbers.
HUGH (CONT'D)
So that's the variables that we're
dealing with.

Em stares at the cellphone calculator.

HUGH (CONT'D)
Pretty good, right?
She looks at Hugh. Something's really off here.

INT. DINING ROOM - LATER

Em thinks.

HUGH
Are you okay?

EM
Hmm-hmm.

Em looks at the numbers she wrote down with the red pen: 1-
Mike, 1- Lee, 1-Hugh, 2 - Laurie, 4 - Beth, 4 - Em, 5- Amor,
6- Kevin. A total mismatch from the green ones. Lee enters.

LEE
Everything okay with the numbers?
EM
Yeah. Do you remember what number
was written on the back of your
picture?

Lee signals with her fingers - 5.

 80.

LEE
Five.

EM
Yeah?
LEE
Hmm-hmm.
KEVIN
I hope another Amir and Hugh don't
come by--
EM
Do you remember what number was
written on the back of your
picture?

KEVIN
Uh, six.

Beth sets a candle in the b.g. Em circles the red 6 on Kevin.

EM
Beth?
BETH
Uh, three.

EM
Hugh, do you remember?

HUGH
I was a three.
EM
You sure?
HUGH
Yeah. What's going on?
MIKE
Poundcake.

HUGH
Poundcake?

MIKE
The girls are making a dessert
before the other house eats it.

Em thinks for a moment.

 81.

EM
Hey, Mike. I need to show you
something.

She walks over with the papers from the notebook in her hand.
Mike pours himself a glass of wine. Em sits next to him.
EM (CONT'D)
The numbers that I remember from
the box that was brought here from
the other house are these numbers.

She shows Mike the numbers.

EM (CONT'D)
But these are the numbers that I
found here in this notepad. And I
just asked everyone if they can
remember their number, Beth and Lee
are from this house originally.
Em points at Beth and Lee's numbers.

EM (CONT'D)
Because they have never left. But
the rest of us? We are not from
this house. We are visitors. Which
means that this Lee is not your
wife. Are you with me?

Mike snickers.
EM (CONT'D)
Well, there's more.
He can't stop laughing and takes a sip off his cup.

EM (CONT'D)
Because Hugh and Amir are from a
third house. He just showed me his
phone, it's not cracked.
Kevin nods.

EM (CONT'D)
Remember that dark area that we
walked through? I have the feeling
that whomever walks through that
ends up in the middle of like a
roulette wheel. And then we just
end up somewhere by chance.
Whomever walks through there will
not return to the house that they
just left.
(MORE)
 82.

EM (CONT'D)
And I think that we need to find
our way back to our house before
the comet passes, because once it
passes, we might be stuck here.
Wherever we are. I don't wanna be
stuck here.

MIKE
If your theory is true and we walk
through the dark space and it's a
roulette wheel. There's no way to
be sure that we will go back to our
original house. I think we stay
here. I think we're stuck here.
Kevin enters.

KEVIN
We put it under the gate. It should
be all right. If we all stay here,
it should be okay.
A BANGING sound gets Kevin's attention.

AMIR
Don't open.
EM
What is that?
Kevin, Hugh and Amir go to the door. Hugh leans down. It's
another note.
HUGH
Oh. Mike.

Mike runs to him.

MIKE
Oh, fuck me.
HUGH
(Reading from the note)
Mike, my friend. Beth plus book
equals Trinidad Club. Don't let it
happen whatever it takes, buddy.

Hugh puts down the note.

HUGH (CONT'D)
What is this?
Mike covers his face, freaked out.
 83.

KEVIN
It's just--Mike had this crazy idea
if he maybe left this note out
there maybe he could stop them from
getting the book. It's nothing.
Mike nods.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
It was a stupid--

HUGH
Yeah, but Other Mike didn't
deliver. What is this?

KEVIN
It's just some crazy Other Mike
runaround. It's nothng.

HUGH
But you know what it is? What is
it?

KEVIN
We talked about it. It's really,
it's nothing.
BETH
What?

KEVIN
We don't have to talk about it.
Just let it go. Huh, Beth?

Everyone looks at Beth. She stares back, doesn't know what to

say. Mike bites his lip.

HUGH
Mike, what is this?

MIKE
Oh shit, it's...nothing.
HUGH
If it's nothing, then why does my
wife have a fucking nosebleed.
He's right. Blood is pouring out of Beth's nose.
LEE
Oh, honey.

Beth covers her face.

 84.

BETH
Oh God. Oh God.

She leaves.
HUGH
Beth, what the hell is this?!
Amir runs to Kevin.

AMIR
I told you. When did he sleep with
her?
KEVIN
Twelve years ago. He's trying to
blackmail himself.
Frustrated, he covers his face.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
This is bad. This is really bad.
Hugh, Beth and Mike fight in the b.g.
BETH (O.S.)
You never told him?!

AMIR
We have to just get through the
night, okay? Just get through the
night.
Em and Laurie just stare at the whole shitshow, resigned.

BETH (O.S.)
He said he told you about it!

HUGH (O.S.)
And why didn't you tell me?!
BETH (O.S.)
Because I don't have to tell you
anything about it!

Hugh turns his stare to the rest of the people at the party.
HUGH
Who else knew about this?! Who else
knew about this?!
LEE
Please.
 85.

HUGH
Lee, did you know about this?

LEE
(Ashamed)
Yes.

HUGH
Kevin, did you know?
Amir tries to calm Hugh down, but he pushes him away.
KEVIN
He told us he told you.

HUGH
Everybody knew?! Everyone knew
about this except me?!

MIKE
Hugh, listen, it's not what it
seems. We don't even belong here.
HUGH
You are fucking too much, man. You
are fucking too much!
MIKE
Listen, we're visitors. This isn't
our house. This is Beth and Lee's
house.
HUGH
You sleep with my wife and this is
what you're telling me?

MIKE
Check your phone. Is your phone
broken?

HUGH
What the fuck is--"Is your phone
broken?!" What the fuck does that
have to do with anything?!
Amir SHUSHES Hugh. Hugh calms down for an instant and then
pulls out his cellphone.

HUGH (CONT'D)
No, my phone is not broken. Now,
what does that have to do with him
sleeping with my wife?!
 86.

LAURIE
Your phone has been broken from the
beginning of the evening!
HUGH
No one's phones have been broken!
MIKE
The box! The first box had like a--
HUGH
What the fuck does this have to do
with anything, Mike?!
LAURIE
Answer him!

HUGH
The stapler.

LEE
No, no, there wasn't a stapler.
Ours was a ping-pong paddle.

MIKE
Mine was a mannequin.

HUGH
What the fuck are you talking
about?

MIKE
That was not my Lee and I'm not
your Mike! You're different than
me. We're in a different reality
here.
HUGH
Yeah, we're in a different reality,
all right. Because in the reality
where I'm from my best friend did
not sleep with my wife.
MIKE
Hugh, do you understand what I'm
saying? This all started tonight
and if there are a million
different realities, I slept with
your wife in every one of them.
KEVIN
Oh, Jesus.
 87.

HUGH
You fucking--

Hugh throws himself at Mike and punches him, throwing him

down to the floor.
EM
Hugh!
Everyone throws themselves at Hugh to pull him away. Only Em
and Lee stay with Mike. Lee leans next to him.
LEE
You okay?
MIKE
(Panting)
Yeah.
LEE
I'm gonna get some ice.

She runs off. Em approaches him.

EM
Are you okay?
Carefully, Em helps him up. Mike sees Lee approaching with
the ice and covers his face.
LEE
Are you kidding me?

Lee places the ice on Mike's face, but brushes her hand away.
KEVIN
No, no, it's all right.
LEE
Okay, I'll put something on it.
She leaves again. Em watches her go.

MIKE
You know, I've made some choices
that I'm stuck with. I'm stuck
here.
Mike chuckles.
 88.

MIKE (CONT'D)
This whole night we've been
worrying that there's some dark
version of us out there. What if
we're the dark version?
SFX: Beth CRIES and ARGUES with Hugh.

HUGH (O.S.)
Why didn't you tell me?! Why didn't
you--

Mike and Em look at the door as they hear Hugh approach. The
door opens. It's not Hugh. It's the other Mike and he starts
to plummet Mike with his fists.

LAURIE (O.S.)
There's someone in the house!

The other Mike hears the rest coming and leaves.

LEE
No, no, no.
Everyone returns.

LAURIE
Mike?
HUGH
Who the fuck was that?!
Everyone checks on Mike who lies unconscious. Beth runs,
panicked.
BETH
Does anyone know--

Beth's nose is bleeding like crazy.

KEVIN
Is he breathing?
Beth's blood falls on Laurie's shoulder.

LAURIE
Jesus Christ!

BETH
I'm sorry!
Laurie freaks out. Kevin runs to embrace her.
 89.

LAURIE
Kevin!

Kevin embraces her.

KEVIN
Laurie, it's okay, it's all right.
Breathe.
Em watches everything. She turns around and heads for the
door. Opens it. There is a note pasted to it.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
Em, where are you going?

Em takes down the note. Everyone is too busy to notice her

leaving. She closes the door.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Em walks out into the night, taking slow and careful steps as
she makes her way down, taking in her surroundings.

A box lies in a patch of grass. She kneels down to open it,

uncovering the plush toy of a monkey. Em inspects it for a
moment then closes the box. Keeps walking.
Em gets close to the window of one of the houses. She peeks
inside and sees an ALTERNATE SELF going over the notebook. An
ALTERNATE LEE approaches her, but Em brushes her away
aggressively. Alternate Lee leaves. Em steps away.

Em approaches another house where she overhears an ARGUMENT

between her friends.

INT. ALTERNATE DINING ROOM - NIGHT (THROUGH THE WINDOW)

Everyone is gathered. An alternate Mike holds a bottle while

an alternate Hugh angrily points at him.
ALTERNATE HUGH
You're scaring the shit out of
everybody, man!

ALTERNATE BETH
Who are you?!
ALTERNATE MIKE
Who are you fucking people?!

Em leaves.
 90.

INT. 2ND ALTERNATE DINING ROOM - NIGHT (THROUGH THE WINDOW)

Two Mikes are bound and gagged to chairs. One has a red
glowstick, another has a green glow stick.

EXT. 2ND ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

Em watches for a moment and leaves.

INT. 3RD ALTERNATE DINING ROOM - NIGHT (THROUGH THE WINDOW)

An ALTERNATE KEVIN and an ALTERNATE EM are hugging each other

as they hold RED GLOWSTICKS. They're laughing.

MIKE (O.S.)
You told me she was crazy! You told
me she was crazy!

Doubles of Hugh, Amir and Beth chat amongst themselves.

EXT. NEIGHBORHOOD - NIGHT

Em keeps walking. She stops and looks up to see the comet

making its way across the night sky. She watches it for a
moment but then leaves.

EXT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

Em approaches, hearing LAUGHTER from the inside. Everyone

seems relaxed, with some having their shoes off or sitting up
on the couches. The power is back inside this house.

ALTERNATE MIKE
Vietnamese is a difficult language.

ALTERNATE HUGH
B-H-O.

ALTERNATE MIKE
Bho, right?

Em watches as an ALTERNATE EM makes her way to the Alternate

Kevin, holding a glass of wine. She sits next to him.
ALTERNATE EM
(Cute)
Hi.

He wraps his arm around her shoulder. With a sense of

longing, Em watches this.
 91.

She sees all of her friends happy and comfortable with each
other. Slowly, she steps away from the window and makes her
way to the side of the house. She finds a basebeall bat and
takes it, but then puts it down. Enters the side-door.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

Em enters, eavesdropping on the conversation, trying to make

sure that she's not seen.

ALTERNATE KEVIN (O.S.)

It's going to be a lot of hard-
work, but it will be worth it.

ALTERNATE BETH (O.S.)

While Kevin's working, what are you
gonna do?

ALTERNATE EM
Oh, I dunno! I'll just figure it
out!
ALTERNATE BETH
Investigate!

ALTERNATE AMIR
Fundraise!

ALTERNATE EM
Fundraise the San Francisco Ballet?
Absolutely.

Em looks down. She has the vial of ketamine in her hand.

ALTERNATE BETH (O.S.)

My cousin went this time of year.
ALTERNATE MIKE (O.S.)
You went, Hugh?

ALTERNATE HUGH (O.S.)

No. Cambodia. Cambodia's awesome.

Em goes behind a door and slowly closes it.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Hugh LAUGHS.

HUGH
Great!
 92.

SFX: Something BREAKS...

...catching everyone's attention.

HUGH (CONT'D)
What the hell was that? Sounded
like a broken window, or a car
windshield.

Mike playfully dances.

MIKE
Should we get the glowsticks and go
outside?
Everyone GROANS.

HUGH
We're not getting the glowsticks.

LEE
This isn't Burning Man.

EXT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

Everyone is outside.

LEE
I don't see anybody.

MIKE
Who's is that right there?

HUGH
Oh, for fuck's sake, no!
The window of his car has been smashed.

MIKE
Oh, shit!

BETH
Aw, baby!

Hugh flashes his cellphone light on the cracked windshield.

HUGH
I just got this. I just got this.
KEVIN
A little structural damage.
 93.

ALTERNATE HUGH
They didn't take anything.

Alternate Em and Kevin look around, trying to make sure no

other cars were smashed.
ALTERNATE HUGH (CONT'D)
Why don't we go look at the cars,
see if there's anything weird going
on?

ALTERNATE KEVIN
All right.

Alternate Em leaves.

ALTERNATE KEVIN (O.S.) (CONT'D)

Em, you're good?
She turns.

ALTERNATE EM
Yeah, I'm right up here!

EXT. ALTERNATE EM'S CAR - NIGHT

Alternate Em walks up to her car and turns off the ALARM with
her keys. She unlocks the car and enters.

INT. ALTERNATE EM'S CAR - NIGHT

Alternate Em leans and opens the glove compartment. She pulls

out a ring and watches it for a moment. Em comes up behind
her and wraps her hands around her face, smothering her.
Alternate Em struggles and fights but Em's strength is too
much. She passes out.

EXT. ALTERNATE EM'S CAR - NIGHT

Em throws the Alternate Em inside the trunk of her car,
taking her jacket away.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Lee's double turns as she hears the door open. Em enters.

ALTERNATE LEE
Oh, there she is! Here she is,
everybody! Where were you?!
 94.

EM
I was just looking through my car.
Everyone returns.

ALTERNATE KEVIN
You okay, babe?

EM
Yeah.
Smiling, she fixes her hair into a ponytail.

ALTERNATE KEVIN
I thought you had gotten away from
us.
EM
I did!

Em hugs him.

EM (CONT'D)
I went and got the ring.
She shows him the ring from the glover compartment. He kisses
her cheek and hugs her again.

ALTERNATE LEE
What were you doing out there? Em,
what were you doing out there?
EM
Oh. The view is really beautiful
with the comet out there.

Beth and Hugh are embracing.

ALTERNATE BETH
You came in through that door?!

EM
Yeah.

ALTERNATE HUGH
What's wrong with that door?
ALTERNATE BETH
You took the door to nowhere.

They laugh.

MIKE
Let's go take a look.
 95.

Mike leads them out of the house.

ALTERNATE LAURIE
It's freezing outside!

ALTERNATE BETH
Oh, come on.

EXT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - NIGHT

They all leave and look up to see the comet.

ALTERNATE LEE
Oh my God.
ALTERNATE MIKE
It's breaking up.

ALTERNATE LEE
Is that what they do?
ALTERNATE MIKE
I guess so. So Hugh, is this what
your brother is gonna study for
life?

The power goes out. Everyone GASPS and then "oohs." Then the
power comes back on. They all GROAN, disappointed but then
chuckle.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Em smiles and thinks, seemingly satisfied by the situation.

ALTERNATE MIKE (O.S.)

I wish we could do mushrooms on
that meteor.

Everyone LAUGHS. From a door, an ALTERNATE Em emerges,

crawling across the floor. Em approaches her.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

Panting, the Alternate Em crawls and makes it to the sink,

holding on tight to it. Em enters and watches her for a
moment. The Alternate Em seems on the verge of
uncosciousness, her arms limp.

She stares confused and groggy at the original Em. Em grabs

the toilet lid and SLAMS her on the head with it. The
bathroom light BLINKS.
 96.

She SLAMS her head again with the lid until she's fully
unconscious. Em takes the alternate's body and places it
inside the bathtub. The shower curtain film. Hurried, she
tries to fix it.

SFX: Alternate Lee KNOCKS on the door.

ALTERNATE LEE (O.S.)
Em?

EM
(Trying to hide her panic)
Yeah.
ALTERNATE LEE (O.S.)
You all right?

EM
Yeah, the toilet got a little
messed up.
ALTERNATE LEE (O.S.)
You can't use that one, you've
gotta use the main one, okay?

EM
Okay!
Em sets the curtain right. She notices there's blood on her
hands. Goes to the sink and then moves around the room, as if
looking for something and trying to catch her bearings. She
checks out the ring on the alternate's hand. Removes it and
places it on the sink. Em fixes her hair and exits.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT

Em walks out toward the dining room. Her steps are slow and
heavy. She holds on to the walls as if dizzy and faint. Her
friends are LAUGHING amongst themselves. Em enters the living
room and collapses.
KEVIN
Em!

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

Em is lying asleep on a couch, covered in a blanket. She

slowly opens her eyes. Groggy, she sits up and looks around.
Notices where she is. Panics a little and leaves the couch,
her hair a mess. Makes her way toward...
 97.

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY

Em walks.
SFX: Plates CLANKING. Water RUNNING.

She makes it to...

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - KITCHEN - DAY

Alternate Lee is washing something on the sink. She turns
around to see Em.

ALTERNATE LEE
Hey, you're up. Breakfast will be
ready in like, five minutes?

INT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - HALLWAY - DAY

Em keeps walking, now toward the bathroom. She inspects every

detail along the way, trying to figure out if everything is
okay. The bathroom's doorknob twists and turns. It opens.
Beth comes out, wrapped in a towel.
BETH
Hey, you're feeling better?

EM
Yeah.

BETH
I'm gonna get dressed and I'll see
you in a bit.

Beth disappears inside one of the rooms. Confused and

curious, Em makes her way back down the hallway.

EXT. 4TH ALTERNATE HOUSE - DRIVEWAY - DAY

Em exits, the sun almost blinding her. She keeps walking

until she reaches Hugh's car. The windshield is cracked. The
envelope is in the backseat. Em doesn't quite understand
what's going on, yet there's a weird relief to it all.
KEVIN (O.S.)
Hey, babe.

Em turns. Kevin is standing across from her.

ALTERNATE KEVIN
You okay?
 98.

She doesn't reply.

ALTERNATE KEVIN (CONT'D)
You totally passed out last night,
mumbling. Put you on the couch.

Alternate Kevin shows her the ring.

ALTERNATE KEVIN (CONT'D)

Found it in the bathroom.

Kevin's cellphone RINGS. Em looks down at her hand with the

two rings.

KEVIN
That's weird. It's you calling.
Kevin answers.

KEVIN (CONT'D)
(Chuckling)
Hello?
He listens for a moment. Turns to Em. Em stares back, unsure
of what to say and who's on the other end of the line.

FADE OUT.